In Phase III with its quest for a topical Botox, Revance Therapeutics Inc. filed for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise as much as $86.25 million, cash that would help efforts with RT001, a physician-applied topical formulation of botulinum toxin type A, most advanced for lateral canthal lines (crow’s feet), but undergoing tests in other indications as well. Read More
Congress’ top priority when it heads back to Washington next week is to churn out an omnibus spending bill to keep the government running after Jan. 15, when the current continuing resolution expires. Read More
LONDON – A strategy that uses gene therapy to manipulate the type of host immune response that exists inside a tumor can cause tumors to shrink in a mouse model of breast cancer. Read More
Portage, with its meaning of carrying cargo between two bodies of water, seems an intuitive name for a Canadian biotech. Certainly, the significance was meaningful to Toronto-based Portage Biotech Inc. (PBI), which is applying transporter technology to create cell permeable peptide fusion proteins in a variety of potential indications. Read More
Marina Biotech Inc., of Bothell, Wash., amended its license agreement with Mirna Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, related to development and commercialization of microRNA-based therapeutics based on its microRNAs and its SMARTICLES liposomal delivery technology. Read More
Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said the subcutaneous formulation of Roactemra (tocilizumab) received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) to treat moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients who responded inadequately to or could not tolerate therapy with one or more disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or tumor necrosis factor inhibitors. Read More
Cerenis Therapeutics SA, of Toulouse, France, said its Phase IIb CHI-SQUARE (Can HDL Infusions Significantly Quicken Atherosclerosis REgression?) study did not reach its primary endpoint in post-acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. The Phase IIb efficacy and safety trial randomized 507 patients with ACS at 53 centers in the U.S., Canada, France and the Netherlands. Read More
